Matt 236

Game

Smiler has 5 trains, although I heard there was a 6th (or at least intentions there were) but when one of them got damaged during construction they weren't able to replace it.

Deer me, this is not the best of news for the patk tbh. This won't do any good to the park's already dwindling attendance figures as the park really is struggling now.

I'm pretty certain I'm left handed as I always use that hand for writing, drawing etc. but do use my right for things like computer games, playing music instruments etc. Very happy to see how many lefty members there are joining me in this one.

Hi and welcome to Part 4, the final instalment of Creaky Northern Adventure. After a pleasurable day at the pleasure beach, a night of exploring two of Blackpool's [best] piers and a not so bright Coral Island, the trip was set to continue on the 2nd day which would conclude the trip. The big question, where would be heading to next? With so much to do at Blackpool, you'd struggle so much to find any exciting attractions and ones that stand out from the others, after all it's not there's any other tall landmarks on the seafront. Of course, there's one thing there we should visit. The Blackpool Tower AKA Merpool Tower, because of the fact it's located in Blackpool and owned by Merlin, it even holds two typical traits two by having not the longest of opening hours and includes it's own bed of scaffolding. However before we go up to the eye of the tower, I think it's time to go and explore a pretty common Merlin chain attraction that seems to be getting around a lot of places these days. This place is, The Burger Kitchen Of course it wasn't [although FYI there actually is a Burger Kitchen on the 2nd floor of the tower] as we explored Blackpool's take on the Dungeons. So, What did I think? I thought they were actually very good actually, a lot of the scenes have the same high quality, gross, immersive experience the ones in London have [and in some ways a little better too]. The drop tower was certainly better at this one and despite getting more of a ride at the London one, it certainly feels a lot more coherent here as it feels like you're actually going up to be executed and then dropped when you're sentenced. A very decent attraction, not to be helped by the wonderful Natalie on tickets . The only flaws in the whole attraction for me was the bit with the Saxons/Vikings felt a bit meh due to it mostly being a cinema screen with things going and bits moving [though it's good they added that bit of history though], the stairs going down in the forest which detracted things a little, I'm sure not much could've been done in the building, but still not forest in the world has stairs [a slope would be a better option IMO] and the arcade at the entrance which just detracts a little [there's video arcades everywhere]. A tasty Fish & Chips for lunch and admiring of the sea front and it was time to experience the Blackpool Circus. Unfortunately cameras/photos were not allowed [another typical Merlin trait] and anyone was caught with one, they would stop the show and get a staff member to take it off you and give it back at the end . The circus was great fun, filled with humour, excitement and amusement throughout. I did particularly enjoy Mooky the clown with his funny jokes and interactions, especially at the end when they got members of the audience involved to act out a simple silent movie/play which was such fun to watch [WHY WHY WHYYYYY Delilah]. The rest was good too. With BMX cyclists, strong man, motorbike ball racers, synchronised swimmers/acrobats, beautiful gorgeous showgirls and even a working fountain [Merlin aren't good with working fountains], it made an amazing show to experience that definitely reflected and summed up the life, soul and atmosphere that Blackpool provides. I can definitely see why they call it Vegas of the north now. Once we fountained out of the fairly big top [but it's actually on the lowest level of the tower], it was time to have a look at the Blackpool Ballroom, which despite not being the cup of tea for most of group was certainly a grand gem located there, with it's grand old fashioned decor, sea side/old time atmosphere and the grand Wurlitzer with it's distinctive rich tone playing out throughout the dance floor. Tpm's Mer and Peaj even took a dance on the floor of this famous ballroom. Waltzing away from the ballroom now and it was time to complete the tower's attractions with a flight to the top of the tower itself. Built in 1894 [100 years before Nemesis was awakened back down at Towers], the tower was born. Standing at a staggering 518ft [480 accessible to the public], the tower can be seen for miles. It's design was also inspired from the Eiffel tower in Paris too [near Euro Disney]. The tower offers some simply breathtaking views from above giving sights for many miles of the surrounding area which is so beautiful to see. I'll let you see for yourself rather than bore you with more talking. You can even see the big One. You get some beautiful views, until the [Merlin] safety net obstructs [for safety of course] and getting good pics is then a lot harder to achieve. The viewing platform It's a bit like a prison. A pretty prison in the sky. And that was it! Blackpool tower offers some truly remarkable views of the whole surrounding area. I may have wandered back to the Merlin circle, but it was well worth it for this jewel and new credit, not to mention I've now got myself another new resin and souvenir from my fantastic trip here. Legoland Discovery Centre & Warick Castle are now the only unique Merlin attractions I'm yet to do in UK aside from the countless Dungeons and Sealifes [JoshC]. Blackpool also has a sea life and Madame Tussauds I hear you say? Unfortunately we didn't manage to try these attractions as not everyone in our party had a MAP at the time and also it was time call Blackpool time as it was getting late and as most had school, uni or work the next day none of us wanted to be too late! These weren't the big losses at the end of the day as the Sealife is probably similar to the one in London and much of the Madame Tussaud's material are items no longer needed from the London attraction. Once walking back to our cars, we said our farewells and it was time to say goodbye to Blackpool and hello to the long journey home with hours of motorway, traffic, seating with only company, ride themes and a cheeky mcdonlads on the way to keep me going. I had a fantastic trip in Blackpool and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Pleasure Beach was brilliant, The tower was Brilliant, The Cirucs was brilliant and the Dungeons, Ballroom, Piers and the rest were also very good, not to mention the great company I had up here that weekend too, with some great laughs, TPM Twister, Late Dominoes pizza etc. If amusement parks, Video arcades, sea sides, exciting nightlife and impressive shows,illuminations and random midway attractions are your thing, Blackpool is the place for you! It would be very easy to spend a week or even a fortnight out here as there's so much to do. Two days at the Pleasure Beach, One day at the waterpark and Piers, two at the Tower and surrounding midways along with another two chilling, visiting the arcades and more of the night life and culture and you're easily already got plenty to do with a week's visit here, plus there's plenty of hotels and BNB's near or along the seafront. One day I hope to return here again for another visit and re-experience the great things I did on the last trip and some ones I didn't do last time, including the missed out ride creeds at the Pleasure Beach [River Caves, Flying Machines, Nickland etc.] among others. The only problem with Blackpool is it's such a b**** to get to as it takes 4-5 hours each way to get as it's so far away, not to mention the horrendous traffic on the road and you need to really stop a couple of times on the way to get food rest your legs and use the facilities once in a while, but apart from that, it's good. Big Thanks goes to Peaj, Scary Coasterboy, Mr Fish and many others for making this trip possible and helping arrangements towards the fantastic weekend it became. Hopefully I'll be reporting on another major park someday outside the Uk Merlin circle again, although if it's a while then it could well take the Mickey .

Different photo Appropriate for fright nights Looks presentable Makes a point for the member 9/10

I do wish thorpe would just do the 2 train op thing every weekend and peak as well as selected weekdays such as Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays. One train op is one of few things I don't like about Thorpe and that they're not doing right currently.

Makes perfect sense I'd say plus I'm sure it was a last minute closure there too.Map looks ok, not amazing but better than last years by quite a bit I have to say. Pretty much same design as the existing map except usage of darker colours and the maze names added really, but it doesn't need much more anyway as it does work. Apart from the fish, everything else is accurate, just hope nothing goes down this year.

TBH though his appearance may have been for the better though as the park have done a lot of changes for this year and many are strongly positive ones as well, market square 2.0, Mexicana etc. plus this just goes to why 2013 was perhaps the epitome of Chessington's existence. I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the leading factors to why pass holder weekend was suddenly cancelled last year.

Banned for changing your avatar in the short space of time I saw the previous one.

Yeah Valhalla was just an amazing water dark ride, makes almost ever other uk major water ride look like a travelling double drop reverchon flume. Blackpools rides are either amazing, very good or meh.

Banned for visiting more parks than Professor Drunk

I don't know if this is true or not, but when vampire had Arrow trains when stacking occurred, the third train never used to stop on lift 2 and instead waited behind train 2 at the back of the brake run or something. Could someone please confirm if this was true as I know when vampire did 3 train op with the vekoma trains, the third would stack on the lift. Sadly didn't see the original trains as my first visit there was 2006, four years after the new trains were brought in,

Thorpe definitely needs more themed experiences (rides) like Towers and Chessington currently have. At the moment, the only rides that are in any way immersive are Swarm, Tidal Wave, Angry birds 4D and Saw (I know many will disagree with that one). Would love to see a dark ride or something similar.

Good to see Fungle finally destroyed now as it was just rotting there for the last 5 years (or what was left of it). Really hope we see a new ride put there in its spot soon as it's quite a decent patch of land there. Would like to see a dark ride there personally as it would fit like a glove and possibly fit in within the surrounding area. 2015 could be an interesting one for development with Fungle and beach ear marked for possibilities not to mention a possible Rumba retheme, This would leave just 1.5 derelict ride sites at the park then.

TBH I think Skyways had quite a lot of problems running this year (hopefully that creaky fire didn't impact the track). Remember seeing a train reversed down the track at somepoint followed by the ride closed for the remainder of the day. Personsly I think Chessie should rebuild or extensively refurbish the ride as it's technically the oldest attraction there which will be 30 years in a couple of years as I think it opened before the rest of the park's rides. Doubt that'll ever happen though.

I want to a see a breaking bad ride at Thorpe. I.E Jessie's high dive

Hi and welcome to this third part of my exciting weekend in Blackpool. Here's how the story continues after our wet immersive ride on Valhalla. It's heading towards the end of the day and twilight has arrived [no the ride sadly]. The park looks really beautiful at sunset, and despite being the tail end of the day it just makes the park come to life, it looks just as beautiful as Thorpe does at this time of day. By now it was time for some final evening/ twilight rides. Another round on the Grand National was first which provided an even more amazing experience this time, as our train was literally flying through the circuit giving lots of airtime and excitement, helped by the fact we won the race too. We had another go on Big Dipper was very good again, but not quite on Grand National's reign. Another go on Wallace and Gromit was taken, I'm just a very big fan before our final final ride during our trip. But which Big attraction did this turn out to be? For a brief moment, I would just like to mention just how beautiful the park looks at night, it's amazing and quite possibly the best park I've seen at night. Anyway back on topic, I'm sure you've guessed the final ride of the day [or should that now be night?] and that's The Big One. The ride at night was both very good and very bad this time. Very good in the remarkable night time views you see below, the racing around the track at night and the first drop being even more intimidating at night. The drawbacks of course were the ride still lacks force in most parts and the ride was also surprisingly rough too as it was rather violent and jerky TBH [who said you need shoulder restraints for a rough ride?]. And the day was over. Blackpool is a really good park despite the place getting a lot of slack as they seem to try and put a lot of effort in to the place despite the amount of empty and SBNO ride spots. Apart from the slightly grumpy cleaner lady at the end, It was an absolutely fantastic day and I get to return here again one day. For the 4-5 hour drive up here, the journey was just about worth it. Another thing here is just how many firsts and records I have achieved during this trip including my first wild mouse, first racing Steel & Woodie, Tallest coaster in the uk [and tallest one I've done yet] plus doing my first SLC. Moving on, our trip at the Pleasure Beach may be finished but our trip and time away certainly isn't. Whilst having some chips, cheese & Gravy up the promenade whilst looking at the beautiful illuminations which just look amazing along with the occasional dressed up and lit tram which was a magical experience, we headed to the South Pier. While most headed for the Waltzer, I headed for the Log Flume with Toofpik which cost a fairly reasonable £3. The ride was alright, just a standard general compact two drop log flume you see at many fairs and small parks. Good for another ride credit, although it does make The Flume look like Chipas. We then headed to Central Pier where there were more fairground rides around, but none of us could be bothered to do any more and just had a cheeky drink at the bar at the back of the pier. When finished, we set off back down the pier to head to one of the best themed and looking amusement arcades on the whole promenade, Coral Island. Full of many amusements and video game machines, I was quite excited of visiting this place at first, plus not to mention what makes this place look better than most other arcades is it includes a couple of rides including a Pirate monorail and ghost train ride. Walking you do feel quite excited and with rides and arcades over here it's almost like going in the indoor bit of Fantasy Island or the Trocadera [in it's hey day when it was open]. Sadly the Ghost Train was closed when we arrived meaning we first headed for the Pirate Monorail which for £1 was quite a bargain. And so began the ride. It's not a bad little attraction, which goes around most of the floor space of the building giving some ok views of the surrounding area, plus there's also a brief random inside section which is separated from the rest of the arcade which includes some pirate theming elements and random audio music too. There's also guns to shoot random targets along the ceiling too although sadly the scores were turned off at the time we were riding. It's a very lucky we were actually able to ride this in the end as the lady operating this was a bit funny as she said this was a kids ride and weren't able to go on it without children. Luckilly Peaj managed to talk with the op and we were all finally to get on the ride. The events with staff didn't get much better as the time progressed as security guards pushed us on from a couple of video machines for no reason which gave me quite a bitter taste in my mouth. They're supposed to be bringing in customers, not scaring them away! decent arcade, unpleasant staff. After walking back to our hotel where dominoes pizza, TPM twister and general meet chat and banter occurred it was time for bed as we headed off in preparation for the second and final day that awaited us in the morning. But what towering events await us? When will the trip excitement unravel like a circus and who's waltzing off in a magical world only Merlin could control? Wait and see in Part 4.

I doubt it would ever happen, but I'd like to see them do something like a ride pass, bit like a photo pass but used on rides instead, where you get like 4 rides or something for a £20 coupon, which encourages more riders yet offers better value for attractions as well.

I think it's good that they're increasing capacity for staple popular rides such as Soarin and Midway Mania as it shows the parks do care about guest experience, satisfaction and keeping queues to a minimum. These may not be top new rides but they're certainly popular ones and would expect shall last for quite a long time at the resort. As long as it doesn't squeeze or limit potential future expansion it's a very good move for both additions IMO. Wouldn't ever see Merlin do something like this, although we did nearly see 2 detty's at one point although I doubt they'd have the space or budget snyway, unless you have some ridiculously low throughput rides -500 pph.

7/10 you only notice the monkey has a face when you look at it for a little bit.

I hate to disappoint y'all but it's in fact number 2. Nemesis Inferno isn't the ride I have ridden most in the world as that belongs to the Dragon at Legoland currently, however it's the second highest for now. Bar 360 is my favourite Thorpe eatery as it offers decent pub style food, though in wish they would serve faster and return the 2 meals for £xx again. 3 yes, my phone does play Aladdin when I set an alarm, mostly to tribute the unforeseen death of Robin Williams (the genie) which hasn't changed since (yet).

Dragon shouldn't be going anywhere for quite a long time (I hope not anyway). In terms of Legoland, the problems with developing the park aren't just the shortage of space to build on (there's probably more land but either they can't build on it or it will certainly be refused planning) and residential issues (like too many uk parks) but is the fact the park is full of many staple rides. Dragon, Laser Raiders, Squid Surfer, Train, Falls, Fire Academy, Driving and Boating School are all park staples which are popular and found in every Lego park worldwide, meanwhile large rides such as Atlantis and Vikings which are slightly more unique to the park cost quite a fair sum of money and aren't likely to go anywhere soon either as they're both large robust structures. Putting most of the park in account and what's actually worth while removing, the only rides I could really see of the current park closing (unless it's rethemed) is Digger Challenge as it's the only ride that can go with a hefty patch of land (not enough for a coaster though) but it could fit a other ride or attraction though. I think it's safe to say Legoland Windsor is in development hell at the moment. Most of the residents seem to oppose the park, it gets much more congested than any of the other major parks and is surrounded by either housing or green belt. If a enclosed environment blended dark ride can't get the go ahead, I don't know what can (except playgrounds and rethemes). Rumours have it the Castaway Camp playground new for this year was almost rejected and that's bit even a ride. Shows how bad the park situation is currently and it's clearly worse than Chessington's situation ATM (who wih their recent creativity seem to be shining).

I thought Nemy had three trains, enthough I don't think it runs more than two.

Ok, might as well do my top 10 themepatk list. 1/ Alton Towers- an amazing with lots of history, world class rides such Nemy, Hex & Smiler plus beautiful grounds and surroundings. 2/ Blackpool Pleasure Beach- Whilst it's a bit of a mish mash of bit and miss parks, this place also includes a lot of history and some amazing rides including Grand National, Valhalla, Steeplechase & Wallace & Gromit. 3/ Thorpe Park- my local park had to be somewhere in the high rankings as it's home to two decent B&M's, pretty good intamin a and manyflat rides. It may need some TLC in quite a few of the older areas but it's a great fun park not to mention some of the best themepark events in the uk, MOS, Summer Nights Fright Nights etc. 4/ Chessington- in recent years the park has been taking a bit of a decline and downward spiral (see 2013). However this year, the park has taken a pretty big turnaround where some of the life and soul has returned following revitalised old rides, areas, enclosures and a second highly themed hotel. It's still got quite a way before it returns to its greatness but now it's much better than recent years. 5/ Oakwood- home to a fantastic woodie, euro fighter & water ride, the park is a little gem. It's a shame most of the other rides at the park aren't the best, it's miles away in the middle of nowhere and operations there seem to make even Chessington's look like Europa parks. 6/ Adventure Island- I only visited here briefly for an express school visit in 2009 but remember it being a pleasant little park. Rage was a good little coaster and over the hill was a decent dark ride. Need to visit there again. 7/ Legoland Windsor- home to some good themed rides Dragon, Viking Rapids, Fairy Tale Brook etc. but struggles with crowds, throughputs and is pretty much development jammed with planning restrictions, clogged traffic and resident haters. 8/ Tivoli World- a rather standard park which sadly lacks some decent major attractions, although comes to life at night, includes lots of shows and in a beautiful hillside location. 9/ Wicksteed Park- pleasant country park with a historical water chute ride and decent railway. It doesn't really include many other must do rides over that, but it's a nice little park. 10/ Boudwijan sea park, small little park in Belgium with a whale themed Zierer coaster and other numerous rides. Not a must do patk but it has not a bad selection of rides. 10 parks I want to visit 1/ Europa Park- everything apparently is perfect 2/ Disney Land Paris- charming Disney park 3/ Univerdal Florida- Wizarding world of Harry potter 4/ Walt Disney World- Everest, seven dwarfs mine & many others 5/ Port Aventura- Shambhala looks amazing 6/ Liseberg- Helix, Balder & Lisebergan look fantastic coasters 7/ Phantasialand- wonderful looking park 8/ Efteling- dark rides and fairytales plus soon a B&M dive coaster 9/ Busch a Gardens Tampa- So many greatly themed B&M's 10/ Heide Park/ a Gardaland,